WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets — some of them, at least — took off for Nashville on Friday afternoon.

Some of the players heading to Music City for Saturday night’s game against the Predators are Evander Kane, Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler, Ondrej Pavelec and Tobias Enstrom.

Not all will play against the Preds, but those who don’t will more than likely get into the Kraft Hockeyville game on Monday in St. John’s against the Ottawa Senators.

Another group of 20 or so players, including Dustin Byfuglien, Alexander Burmistrov, Nik Antropov, Kyle Wellwood and Jason Jaffray, will practise in Winnipeg on Saturday morning before hopping on a charter to Charlotte, N.C., for a Sunday game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Johnny Oduya is looking forward to Saturday’s contest in Nashville because he might get to finally play a game. He didn’t play in Winnipeg or Columbus on Tuesday.

“I’ve been waiting. It’ll be nice to get in,” Oduya said. “It doesn’t matter how much you work out and skate and practise. It’s always getting into the games and getting a feel for guys on the team you play with. I’m looking forward to it.”

Head coach Claude Noel will likely trim the roster after the wild weekend of action, so this will be the last chance for players to make their marks.

“Everybody has a chance to accomplish something,” Noel said. “Everybody has an opportunity to ingrain themselves in what they’re going to be. Whether you’re going to be an existing player that’s a veteran who is used to playing 22 minutes, I might be looking at you playing 12 or 14. And one guy that plays 14, he might play 21 in my mind. Everybody has an opportunity to do something this weekend that gives me information.

“New guys, they have a chance to either be bubble guys or not, or close or not. But it’s early in the process. We’ve got some games to go.”

DATE TARGETED: Winkler native Eric Fehr has finally set a date he hopes to get into the lineup after off-season shoulder surgery. The Jets forward is aiming to start playing in mid-November.

LATE HITS: Noel will coach the Jets in Nashville and St. John’s, while assistants Charlie Huddy and Pascal Vincent will share the duties in Charlotte. St. John’s IceCaps coaches Keith McCambridge and Mark Morrison will help Noel in St. John’s and will remain on the Rock to start the AHL team’s training camp … The Jets refused to make Dustin Byfuglien available for the media after Friday’s practice. No reason was given … Centre Aaron Gagnon remains out indefinitely, while right-winger Janne Pesonen didn’t practise on Friday and is day-to-day with a lower-body problem. Pesonen might play Monday in St. John’s.